New OPM regulations will extend a program that allows federal agencies to hire the spouses of U.S. service members outside the traditional competitive hiring process. SDI Productions / GETTY IMAGES
OPM extends flexible hiring of military spouses
Interim regulations will allow federal agencies to hire the spouses of military service members outside of the traditional competitive hiring process through 2028.
The Office of Personnel Management last week implemented new regulations extending a temporary program designed to make it easier for federal agencies to hire the spouses of active duty military service members for an additional five years.
The program, by which agencies may hire military spouses outside of the traditional competitive hiring process, was first authorized by a Trump-era executive order and the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, and was originally set to run through August 2023. But a provision of the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act extended it for an additional five years.
In 2021, OPM issued regulations intended to make the program easier for agencies to use, and President Biden signed an executive order last June allowing some domestic agencies to telework while overseas, in an effort to boost recruitment and retention of military spouses.
Officials in both parties have focused on improving the hiring of military spouses in part because unemployment among spouses is much higher than the general population—as of May, when the overall unemployment rate was 3.7%, among active duty military spouses it rose to 21%—due to service members’ need to relocate periodically. And as it has become increasingly necessary for families to become two-income households, difficulties maintaining jobs as a military spouse has had a negative impact on the armed services’ ability to recruit and retain soldiers, sailors and airmen.
“Expanding access to federal jobs for military spouses allows spouses to grow and succeed in their own careers while also supporting their partners in uniform,” said OPM Director Kiran Ahuja in a statement. “This policy will assure the federal government’s access to a diverse and talented group of applicants across the globe, and we are honored to benefit from their expertise.”
In an interim final rule published last week in the Federal Register, OPM extended agencies’ ability to noncompetitively hire military spouses to permanent, temporary or term appointments until Dec. 31, 2028. Although the fiscal 2023 NDAA removed the requirement that agencies report annually on their use of the hiring flexibility, Trump’s 2018 executive order on the issue imposed a similar requirement that remains in effect, OPM wrote.
In addition to hiring the spouses of active military service members, the program allows agencies to use a streamlined process to hire spouses of disabled service members, as well as unmarried widows and widowers of members of the military who died while on active duty.
Although last week’s regulations went into effect immediately upon their being published, OPM is seeking comments on its revisions between now and Nov. 27.